Minister Confirms MoD Examining Security Risk from Vehicles from China, with Staff Told to Refrain from Secret Talk in Vehicles.
A defence minister has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence is currently examining the potential security risks posed by Chinese cars, while staff have been instructed to refrain from talking about secret information in all cars.
Safety Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recent interview on a radio station, Luke Pollard addressed reports that Ministry of Defence officials have been instructed not to discuss classified information while riding in China-made vehicles.
He explained that the ministry is “investigating” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, however emphasised that safety is a issue in all modern vehicles.
Our department has a collection of tens of thousands of vehicles in the Ministry of Defence and Chinese ones account for a tiny fraction.
But whether you’re traveling in a Chinese car or a non-Chinese car, our instruction to our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence devices into their car, to avoid having discussions at a secret classification in any kind of car, because of the increasing risks of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in protected areas. That’s a prudent and sensible thing for anyone concerned about security.
After it was suggested that it would be prudent for the MoD to stop using every cars from China, the minister replied: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the present time.”
Broader Defence Context
This revelation comes as reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the existence of dual-use shutdown mechanisms in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable China to disable public transport and bring chaos to public transit.
Furthermore, a Russian spy ship was reportedly shining lasers at RAF pilots, described as a “extremely risky” act by government representatives.
This broader security environment highlights the significance of robust measures and vigilance in every areas of government operations, from transport use to discussions practices.
